Conroe preparing to issue $150M in bonds for improvement projects

The Conroe City Council approved a resolution Thursday to ratify the publication for the sale of almost $150 million in certificates of obligations for capital improvement projects.

According to information from assistant finance director Collin Boothe, the bonds will be issued in two sets. One for $98.3 million and the second for $48.1 million.

“This is the first step in issuing certificates of obligation,” Boothe said.

Boothe said the $48.1 million will be used for numerous projects including streets, signals, parks, facilities and drainage projects. Those bonds will be repaid through property tax.

The $98.3 million will be used for public works projects including the city’s new waste water treatment facility. Those bonds will be repaid through water and sewer revenue.

The new plant that will cost more than $60 million, will be located at the intersection of Foster Drive and Ed Kharbat Drive.

In February, the city awarded a $1.58 million contract to Huntsville-based Doughtie Construction Co.

Director of Capital Projects and Transportation Tommy Wooley said the Texas Commissioner on Environmental Quality is required the city to move its outfall of treated wastewater 2,000 feet downstream where the San Jacinto River meets Lake Creek.

Wooley said the project will be a 2,200-foot, 60-inch line. The city, he added, received six bids for the project.

Director of Public Works Norm McGuire said there is more water at that point to mix with the wastewater versus the current location where the water is stagnate.